New Delhi: Filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani has been accused of sexual assault by a woman who worked with him on his 2017 film Sanju. Hirani has categorically denied the allegations. His lawyer Anand Desai termed the allegations “false, mischievous, scandalous, motivated and defamatory” in a statement issued soon after the allegations against the director was made public in a detailed investigation by HuffPost India.

The woman, who calls herself as “an assistant”, alleged that Hirani sexually abused her more than once between March and September 2018.

The latest on #MeToo is so disturbing. Who is it that women can trust? Can’t deal with these words anymore ” “At the outset, our client states that the allegations made against him are false, mischievous, scandalous, motivated and defamatory,”

Taking to Twitter, she wrote: “The latest on #MeToo is so disturbing. Who is it that women can trust? Can’t deal with these words anymore- “At the outset, our client states that the allegations made against him are false, mischievous, scandalous, motivated and defamatory.”

In a statement released after HuffPost India’s report, the filmmaker said, “I was completely shocked when these allegations were brought to my notice about two months back. I had suggested immediately that it is essential to take this matter to any committee or any legal body.”

During the #MeToo movement in India last year, Nanda had shared her own experience of assault. She later filed a complaint with the Oshiwara police in Mumbai, saying that actor Alok Nath raped her in her house in 1998 after spiking her drink.

Nath, who was booked in November under Section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Indian Penal Code, was granted anticipatory bail by a sessions court in Mumbai on 9 January.